Public Comment

This election feels like a spaceship heading for a black hole.Please don’t explode…please don’t explode…please don’t explode, and shatter like the German democracy did in 1933…Last Sunday night at 9 p.m.– the Sunday before the election–instead of “Headliners,” which is usually on at that time on MSNBC, there was special coverage discussing the “big day”– the anticipation, a spectacle like fireworks on New Years’ Eve…

Music plays on my Apple laptop…the back reads: “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.”According to the “executive summary” for the China Labor Watch Website “workers making the iPhone” are exploited, paid just $1.85 per hour.(Compare to my $11; compare to $7.25, America’s minimum wage).The Guardian reports that the Foxcon Longhua factory in China, which manufactures iPhones,has body catching nets to curtail its suicide epidemic.Should I trash what the workers produced in protest, and boycott?...

Things we do not desire, which I do not prefer to list, do exist in this universe but not in here, where our hands are touching like water touches the surface of the Earth as we float a little, on a black, leather couch...

*What am I forgetting to think about, distracted and preoccupied with that damn blockade of financial concerns and anxiety? How many of us ask ourselves this question or… how many others could we ask this question for as they too are bogged down by things which compassionate folks would like to see them not bogged down by...*...And beyond the economic anxiety and poverty there are other things which hijack the mind’s potential or rob a life...  the emotions of serious illness, being damned by some kind of “bad luck”-- medical malpractice, just a bad reaction to a medication at the wrong time (such as was the cause of my father’s own untimely death), getting struck by lightning, figuratively or literally...shot by a bigot, victim of a space shuttle explosion or terrorist attack…. Things which haunt me to consider...when I was younger I felt morally obligated to envision tragedies of all kinds befalling me if only to “hold the hands” of the less fortunate in my own way and share the misery with them. But to fixate on this dogmatically is masochistic and raises no one up...brings no wisdom or improvement or real hope to anyone.    So I seek understanding for knowledge’s sake...*...I find myself more attracted to “the media” industry now than academia but it is strange. Like a divorce.*...Although the trouble of people feeling they must kiss ass is just a social problem in general, not industry specific. That is one thing believe it or not I refuse to do. I find it degrading. I find ass-kissing and being told what to say or think without any invitation for discussion to be utterly degrading. *...All of this can be VERY expensive business, I realize. You know...independent media...starting up your own business, living on your own terms, making art, saying what you really think (some people experience hurt feelings very easily. I feel bad about it but it’s also not fair for their hurt feelings to get priority over honesty. I believe the right course of action is thus diplomacy, which I give my all to as a writer and activist though I sometimes fail. I remember when I applied for a political organization and asked questions about their policy positions. I didn’t mean to poke holes in their lifework or disrespect their souls but if they will not be open to discussion then they too are poking holes...to some degree it actually is a “dog eat dog” world.*....how many people do you know who are or seem or say they are tired or busy? I haven’t taken a tally but I have heard people describe themselves as tired and /or busy almost, I think, as often I’ve heard people ask the question “how are you?” which, if not followed by “tired” or “busy” is followed by that word “good” which...maybe you are a little suspicious of or maybe you know full well you are telling a so called “white lie” as to not tell the story of all that’s frustrating you. (In fact, this is all so common place that it is brought up in friendlier conversation often itself!)*... About these somewhat and “sort of” seemingly chaotic thoughts (to borrow Dylan’s description “sort of”  once more! And perhaps not for the last time!)…the sense of chaos and confusion is not…so far as I can tell…fundamentally epistemological. (Epistemology tends towards the cut and dry for me: if you’re acquainted with me you know my mantra of objectivity, empiricism, non-contradiction, law of identity, pragmatic clarification…) Rather, it’s a struggle to accept a degree of imperfection...*...What exactly is the definition of media? And why (emphasis here on the WHY) can I be confident that this definition, more so than all others, is THE definition? Can that which we call “art,” just to give you an example of what happens in my mind as I contemplate definitions, count as part of that broader notion of “media?”FOR MORE FROM PUBLIC COMMENT, VISIT https://publiccommentpodcast.com/

With the heightened tension on the right and the left with respect to the gun violence crisis in America the President is quick to blame mental illness, while many experts and critics on the left warn that mental health is not the fundamental problem and cause. But if we do not refer to the disturbances within the mind that lead up to an act of mass violence as part of a "mental illness," how are we supposed to characterize it? Mere unethical behavior? But not all breaches of ethics are the same. Is there any connection between severe lack of ethics and mental illness? What standards do we refer to reach such a conclusion? To the degree which we might associate gun violence with unethical behavior one question raised is whether or not the perpetrator of violence fully "knows" what he or she is doing is absolutely "unethical."For more about Public Comment visit the website: https://publiccommentpodcast.com/Listen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featuredVisit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/Email me at [email protected]

"Yesterday there was nothing in my life worth living for/ you were there when I was born/ the very strength to carry on/ a miracle as come..." (The Bee Gees; Miracles Happen, 1997); can you relate to so deeply romantic a sentiment or do you relate more to something between a miserable marriage, polygamy/polyamory, sleeping around (for a lack of better terms) or are you lonely? Do you believe in "romantic love" and if so, what do you think about it? In my case, thoughts on love and fate are the earliest of my philosophical contemplations. By three years old I had some kind of obsession with my own ideas of what romantic love might be though I am not sure what caused this as my parents were divorced when I was quite young and my grandparents, I can't stay, were so outwardly expressive of deep, intensive, romantic love. By the time I was in 4th grade I was obsessed with Grease and West Side Story because they were such intriguing meditations on love. But around 1997-1998, when by chance (it would seem) I received for Christmas, the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever the Bee Gees forever changed my life, speaking of love as I wanted it to be spoken of, and offering an artistic angle to their songs and music which I believe is unmatched in its uniqueness to this day. Moreover, it is the Bee Gees who led me to develop such a passionate interest in poetry. So I studied them, their lyrics, their music, their career, their success. And this all only scratches the surface of how deeply the Bee Gees speak to the core of my soul and life. **CHECK OUT THE NEW PUBLIC COMMENT WEBSITE (publiccommentpodcast.com)**Listen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featuredVisit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/Email me at [email protected]

Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard inspired me! As my winner of last night's Democratic primary debate for cracking open Senator Kamala Harris' complex and arguably quite troubling record of hypocrisy and injustice I cannot help but wonder: to what degree to we grant anyone-- whether it is Sen. Harris in her run for president, or even just ourselves-- the leeway of humanness and the inevitability of imperfection? When is a mistake one where we say "oh, everyone makes mistakes" and move on, and when is a mistake so troubling as to bring about a major response of consequence such as disqualification of the office of the U.S. presidency? So in this episode I will take a look at Sen. Harris' record in the context of questioning adherence to principle in the midst of complexity. Specifically, I examine her healthcare proposal, and her record as the Attorney General of California. One media organization that proves time and time again to be a great source as I contemplate these kinds of questions is VOX. There are two articles from them today that were exceptionally useful. Kamala Harris’s Medicare-for-all plan, explainedKamala Harris’s controversial record on criminal justice, explained**CHECK OUT THE NEW PUBLIC COMMENT WEBSITE (publiccommentpodcast.com)**Listen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featured Visit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/ Email me at [email protected]

Health insurance: should there be a "public option" or Medicare For All?" This was a major question addressed in the 7/30/19 Democratic primary debate. It's not about left or right says Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, as candidates debated healthcare and more but I say it absolutely is about left or right! So what of this healthcare policy question? Fair points raised on both sides: if we move to socialized medicine, what happens to the healthcare industry, and in particular the private insurance companies and the insurance workers? On the other hand, how does that fit into whether or not some people simply deserve better health insurance just because they were the lucky ones? There's a crucial metaphysical way of contemplating this which delves into how we determine what a person's value might/could ever even theoretically be.  CHECK OUT THE NEW PUBLIC COMMENT WEBSITE: publiccommentpodcast.com Listen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featured Visit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/ Email me at [email protected]

Pieces of media, for me, just like words and thought, are like units of gold, or precious metals and stones as I contemplate what seems to be, not only an "information age" we're living in, but a "media age" as social and digital media, especially on the internet, impact our lives and international culture. So much, just in my short 33 years thus far, in the world of media, and my experiences with media, has changed, from my fixation on VHS cassettes to CD's to books, to digital files and websites. It amazes me how these various forms of media have opened me up to so much, from listening on CD's to song lyrics of the Bee Gees to the streaming audio files of Ayn Rand essays and lectures, from reading Bukowksi books in print to fixating on website experiences. FOR MORE FROM PUBLIC COMMENT CHECK OUT THE NEW WEBSITE: publiccommentpodcast.com   Listen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featured Visit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/ Email me at [email protected]

Thought & talking comprise my "why" for this podcast series. Speaking to thought more specifically, three things which I find especially amazing about it: 1) how it directs our actions; 2) how it constructs our notions of meaning; 3) how it enables us to communicate/ how we communicate it. I believe art (which I define as contemplations and dreams) enables some of the most in depth glimpses into a person's thoughts, how they think, and the focuses of their thoughts. In my case I like to identify and record contemplations and with as much clarity as I can, which is not only an aesthetic idea but encompasses my system of philosophical thought. I believe art tends to be an expression of one's philosophy. I believe that art also stands beside journalism and history as in helping ourselves and posterity gain a fuller sense of understanding the human experience. Visit the Official Public Comment Podcast WebsiteListen to the Public Comment Podcast on Radio Public Subscribe  to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/seanoconnoressays/featured Visit me on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/publiccommentblogFollow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/publiccomment.blog/Tweet me at https://twitter.com/sopubliccommentConnect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/soconnorwritingtutor/ Email me at [email protected]